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But I think that in case of a full party a character of a particular class should do only what he's implied to. Once I tried to force my fighter and lord to master Ranged Combat and Modern Weapons, but it was really tedious and simply not reasonable since my party could handle any situation without involving ranged weapons at all (I played on normal), not counting that they got encumbered of bullets and lost in their AC, so there were no considerable benefits from their learning to fight from a distance, only possible negatives.
"Ranged" ranger is a very good option if you are missing alchemy in your party. However, if you do have access to it elsewhere, you might want to reconsider. Playing a melee ranger is a waste (well, unless you role-play it:)).
Also use the spells of your hybrids and develop them
1) For a long game, ending above level 20:
STR+INT into DEX, then whatever you want. you will have a really good shooter and caster this way.
2) Short game, ending below 20:
STR+DEX, then whatever you want. INT not needed as you end before reaching spell level 7 or even 6.
When I tried STR + SEN, I was getting far more long range hits when I got eagle eye. Then it was superior for a while, until also ranged/bow got high and it didnt matter at all (compared to fighters, the hit rate was almost the same). When I tried to go DEX + SEN, it was too underwhelming with damage.
PS: Try to get STR as close to 125 as possible, all the points above 100 are super effective.
But I agree you should have a Mook ranger. All characters should be mooks, maybe except the PIE oriented ones:D
EDIT: After thinking about all my previous rangers and the bonuses the stats give, I decided that my next ranger would look like this:
Mook
STR 59
INT 62
DEX 69
SEN 60
On level 1, put DEX to 70 and then forget about it until INT is maxed, rest of the points going to STR until maxed, then SPD/VIT.
Having high DEX (and sort of SEN) from the start will allow for a good rate of gaining skill points in ranged and bow, which are also supported by the stats that will be maxed first (INT and STR). Also having them at 70 and 60 is quite important, as Wizardry tends to have a lot of tresholds at multiples of 10.
Having 62 starting INT will get you to 100 (with the help of the +5 from Trynton) at level 12, which is soon enough to get some powercast high before endgame. STR will be a bit slower to max out, but powerstrike is useless, so it doesnt matter that much, you will still deal high damage all along.
The 70 DEX will also help out with leveling alchemy along with INT, which also helps the individual magic realms a lot. This way it should not be a problem to reach alchemy 15 before level 9 to unlock knock-knock spell that can be used to powerlevel, or whipping rocks that are a good aoe spell.
The 60 SEN should allow you to find all the hidden stuff from the start and keep the scouting skill on par without investing in it.
If I were to pick 3 stats to max on a ranger, especially for such a long game that ends on level 24, I would take INT/STR/DEX, in this order. Also, SPD is overrated, no need to invest in it at all at the start. SEN 100 is a waste of several tens of points.
I had a positive experience with the lord class before, but I don't think I built it in a very resonable way, considering the lord is basically about tankiness and helping the others, not delivering great damage. Although my lord was a rawulf wielding Diamon Eyes in one hand and the Mauler in the other and was relatively good in close combat, he wasn't really survivable and could not take care of the rest of the party well. I think it's not the role that is implied for him.
Now I want to cap his vitality and dexterity first, and then start investing in senses. But what race should I choose? The previous one was a rawulf, as I said. These possess more senses than humans, but are too stupid to make good spellcasters fast enough, so mine was learning to apply magic considerably slower than Vi. Even though he was able to use most of the spells decently at the end, he could not have been better at spellcasting than priests who can do it from the very start. I also would like trying to get all the stuff granting him insane hp regeneration, and I believe it should be extremely tedious and even maybe pretty much impossible. But I desperately seek for making him reliable and more durable than a fighter, yet still not perfect at melee.
As for the priest, it appeals to me with its being capable of applying magic from the beginning, though I haven't yet decided on what weapon to hand my priest. Maybe staves? I remember getting a good one in the Rapax Castle, but it had not much application back then. What do you say? Or the typical 'mace and shield' variant would be better? I really want to try out something new. Another thing I'm concerned about is that being a warrior only by half he definitely won't be able to stand in the front in case if he's gontg to wield a mace and shield, so it'd be wiser giving him a staff instead and putting emphasis on rather spellcasting than melee.
That said, Vit and Dex would be the last things to worry about with a character like that. Str/Pie should be foremost; Int isn't a big deal if they're mainly a buffer/healer rather than an offensive caster, but it isn't a bad idea to get it to 50 to ensure that the Close Combat skill doesn't stall later on. A rawulf works well for this, although other races can too.
If they're meant to be durable then a shield and 1H weapon (aiming for the Vampire Chain in the long run) is probably your best bet, though polearms also work well for a more attack-oriented character.
A battle-oriented Priest would work similarly, but with more time spent casting than hitting things. That said, a Priest would usually emphasize Int, Vit, and/or (if doing Soul Shield duty) Spd rather than Str, so they won't be nearly as good at that hitting things part and they certainly won't have the same durability on the front line. (They'll have enough to deal with mundane enemies, but don't expect them to face tank any boss types.)
But if it's about having a healer, that'll depend on who else you have in the party: with the exception of curing mental ailments (which can also be covered by Psionics) an alchemist is often just as good a healer as a priest and brings more utility to the group in other areas.
"Battlepriest" would be done like this:
INT/DEX to max out from the start, then STR, with a character with a decent starting PIE and STR. The weapon of choice will be staves, as being in front row and turning to heal is no good. A good choice is the staff in the waterfall cave in the mountain wilderness with high debilitating effects chance.
Points into fire magic from the very start to be able to use Lightning effectively.
INT for the early powercast ist a must, as the late game magic offensive potential of the priest is very high, even though it comes from just a few spells in several magic realms.
High DEX will make sure that the hit rate is high even though a lot of time will be spent casting instead of hitting and training combat skills. Lower STR will be compensated by the debilitating effects, but will catch up later on anyway.
And yes, I already tried it, and it is a very good build.
Where have you taken this knowledge from? The most utilizeable thing Wizardry 8 tells about a skill is that there are two stats it is reliant on, but if I had to choose from both of them which one should I focus on first? There are also several factors that may affect melee damage output (apart from the weapon itself) -- predictably the Strength score, the Close Combat skill and the skill regarding proficiency in a particular type of weapon, yet, again, which of those affects it better? The same goes for efficiency of magic, accuracy with ranged weapons and many other things. Where do I learn more on such matters?
When determining what stats a character should max first (or invest into), you should consider these things:
1) Does the stat offer a big benefit by itself? For example, STR increases weapon damage (you can see the damage bonus on the inventory page).
Most of the stats dont satisfy this rule though. They are important for leveling skills they govern, but for this purpose only, all you really need is to have them above average from the start. All skills are also influenced by another, secondary stat, which may be a stat you are maxing out anyway, so why waste too many points on the primary one?
2) What skill does a 100 in a particular stat unlock and how soon do you want to have access to this skill to level it up properly?
In this case, the most important is powercast (INT). Powerstrike (STR) and eagle eye (SEN) are helpful, but not that crucial. The rest is situational, with reflection (DEX) offering a nice AC bonus (but not needed at all if you have stealth).
For example, when building a fighter, I go immediately for a Mook.
His high starting INT and SEN compared to other races will give him a nice edge when leveling up close combat and weapon skills. His starting STR is still high enough to reach STR 100 in an acceptable time (just a tiny bit slower than dracon/lizard). I put points to DEX to increase hit chance a bit and speed up skill-ups even more, but I dont really care about maxing it quickly as I know I will dual class to rogue for stealth anyway. I put some points to speed at the start to compensate for the low value, but I dont really care about speed until I am happy with the other stats as I know that I wont get a second attack until I reach about 50 in close combat and weapon skill and it is easy to increase by magic anyway.
Close combat and weapon skill have about the same effect, they increase hit chance and attack/swing rate, but not damage directly. Damage is determined by the weapon and STR. An important factor is also the weight of the weapon and initiative, you may notice a rapid drop of swings you get if you change from diamond eyes to giant sword (but, of course, the total damage might still raise).
There is nothing wrong with a melee ranger and there is really nothing wrong with the lord or battle priest. The only time it becomes an issue is when you spread the skill points too thin making your toon worthless.
The real debate is whether or not you want to power game. Wiz8 is very open to both styles of play and can also be rewarding to both. If you choose to power game, then you want your ranger to be only bow/xbow.
If you want specifics....then the Mook Ranger is the best for ranger/melee hybrid because of the mook sword. Although I truly prefer the Estoc De Olivia for a ranger.
The Lord is the best class for equiping cursed items since they take no damge from -hp gear. Also, they can equip +hp gear and they stack with his hp gain skill. Where the Valk cheats death, the Lord tries to prevent it. (polar opposites)
The battle priest is an easy and very effective build. Start as a Dwarf with focus on str and dex. Ignore all damage spells (not many in divinity anyway) and use either mace/flail or staff/wand. Later focus on vit for hps and piety for sp. No need for int if you are not going with damage spells. You can also go with str and vit early on if you want the dr bonus sooner. The main difference between the lord/valk and the battle priest is the earlier access to spells vs the higher hp of the hybrids. An argument can be made over equipment, but there are many work arounds for that issue.
Happy Hunting.